Once upon a time, every laptop shipped with a hefty charging brick. These chargers were heavy, cumbersome and quite finicky. However, times have changed. Laptop chargers are smaller and lighter than ever. What happened? This is why bulky laptop chargers are going the way of the dodo.
GaN technology for victory
GaN (gallium nitride) semiconductors are more efficient than silicon semiconductors, which used to be the primary technology behind laptop chargers. Modern laptop chargers have adopted GaN technology, and this has enabled companies to manufacture more compact transformers and components. This caused these chargers to shrink by about 40 to 50 percent, while still providing an average of 40W to 150W of power. Even powerful workstations and gaming laptops use GaN chargers nowadays, and they require a lot of power.
GaN chargers produce less heat than silicon chargers. This has allowed them to adopt quick-charging technologies, which often use higher-charging currents. Finally, they offer up to 99 percent efficiency, compared to about 85 percent for silicone.
How popular are GaN laptop chargers?
We don’t have any real numbers specifying the prevalence of GaN laptop chargers, but it’s becoming harder to find powerful machines that use silicon semiconductors instead of GaN. The USB-C chargers that come with modern MacBook Pro laptops? They are filled with GaN semiconductors. You’ll find this type of charging technology in high-end models from Lenovo, Dell, and everyone else.
Some entry-level laptops, such as the MacBook Air and Neo, still use silicon-based charging technology. However, they can be equipped with third-party GaN chargers. To that end, companies like Anchor have largely moved away from silicon and toward GaN.
Are there any drawbacks to GaN chargers?
One potential disadvantage of using a GaN charger is that you won’t need it, so it may be a waste of money. For example, the MacBook Neo does not support fast charging. Adding a GaN charger won’t hurt the machine, but you’ll only get a minor speed bump.
Consumers value speed, so GaN chargers are more expensive than silicon chargers. However, this price gap is narrowing all the time, as the technology continues its journey towards mass adoption.
What other benefits do GaN chargers provide?
GaN chargers are very small, so they can fit behind items of furniture in a pinch. Additionally, many modern chargers have some integrated USB ports for charging multiple devices at once. The increased power draw efficiency also makes them a slightly more eco-friendly option.
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